If you need a reason to sign up for a marathon, here it is. New research suggests that training and running a marathon for the first time could reverse some effects of again on our bodies.
The researchers recruited and tracked 138 healthy people and who are first-time marathon runners. They trained and completed the London marathon, and the researchers stated that it was linked to a four-year reduction in their vascular age. Specifically, they found that marathon training reversed the age-related stiffening of the main artery of the body and it helped reduce blood pressure.
Benefits of running
Doctors state that as we age, the walls of our arteries which deliver oxygen and nutrients to all of our vital organs, grow thicker and stiffer. This makes our heart work harder to pump blood around our body. While a normal part of aging, this can contribute to the risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and dementia.
Senior author Dr. Charlotte Manisty, a senior lecturer at the University College London and a consultant cardiologist at the Barts Heart Centre and University College Hospitals said that their study shows it is possible to reverse the effects and the consequences of aging on our blood vessels with exercise in just six months. These types of benefits were observed in overall healthy participants across a broad age range and their marathon times are suggestive of exercise training that is achievable in novice participants.
According to the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the greatest benefits were seen in older, slower male marathon runners with higher baseline blood pressure.
The researchers recruited runners that had no significant medical history, and they were between the ages of 21 to 69, who had registered to take part in the 2016 and 2017 London marathons. They examined the runners, almost half of whom were male, six months before they even began training and within three weeks after completing the long-distance race.
The researchers did not specify a particular training regimen, with participants encouraged to use the beginner's training plan that was given by the marathon, which consists of three runs per week that increase in difficulty for 17 weeks before the race.
The researchers found that the marathon training helped decrease the systolic blood pressure by 4 units and diastolic blood pressure decreased by 3 units. Overall, the exercise reduced stiffness in the aorta which is the main artery in the body.
Improved health
The health benefits were not linked to how fast the participants completed the race nor were the participants experience marathon runners, said Manisty. The average marathon running time was 5.4 hours for women and 4.5 hours for men, which was below the average completion times.
Manisty said that they wanted to look at novice athletes. They did not include people who said that they ran for more than two hours a week. The study did not look at how long the health benefits were sustained beyond the time of the study or whether they were connected to the intensity of training for a physical feat like a marathon.
Manisty stated that she did not think the health benefits were unique to running a marathon. The takeaway of this study was to set a training goal and structure and stick to it. She also said that it was never too late to start sustained exercise, with the study finding the greatest changes in the oldest runners.
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